120 
THE FATE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. 
[Nature and Art, April 1, 1867. 
dallions, Ac., as recommended for Christmas. The 
medallions must now, of course, contain the ap- 
propriate devices for Easter. The Creek Cross is 
still the most appropriate form of the symbol for 
medallions and general purposes, but the floriated 
Latin Cross is the most suitable for the decoration 
of the space over the chancel arch or east window. 
Although the Latin, or Calvary, Cross was out of 
place at Christmas, it becomes one, of the important 
symbols for Easter. The true Eastern Cross, 
however, is that variety which is termed the 
Resurrection or Victory Cross. It consists of a 
cross placed on the top of a tall staff or spear 
which has attached to it a small white banner, 
Fig. 1. This cross may be placed as shown on the 
plate, viz., issuing from behind the reredos, or two 
of them may be used, one on each side of the 
reredos aud altar. In almost all representations of 
our Saviour’s Resurrection He is depicted bearing 
this form of cross in His hand. 
Other emblems sometimes adopted for Easter, on 
the authority of the early Christians, are the 
Phoenix, the Peacock, and the Lion. These may 
be depicted on banners, shields, or medallions. 
Banners and Shields may be used in exactly the 
same manner, and to the same extent as at Christ- 
mas. They may be ornamented with the following 
devices in gold and colours : the various forms of 
the Greek Cross, the Latin Cross Eleury, the 
Agnus Dei, the monograms of the Saviour’s 
Name with or without crowns over them, the 
before-mentioned emblems, the entwined triangles, 
and any Easter texts, as in Fig. 4. 
A chancel or rood screen is a most appropriate 
and beautiful feature at Easter. It may be made of 
light wooden framework, and be covered with ever- 
greens enriched witli flowers. Shields and banners 
may be used to add colour and effect to it, and a 
richly coloured and gilded Cross Fleury should in 
all cases surmount the centre archway. 
In the decoration of the nave, our directions for 
Christmas may be followed in the general details, 
although it is not necessary to ornament that por- 
tion of the interior so fully at Easter. 
THE FATE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. 
To the Editor of Nature and Art. 
Sir, — It was not my intention to have written for publi- 
cation anything concerning the reported murder of Dr. Living- 
stone ; but, liavingbeen requested by several friends as well as 
by yourself, to express my opinion respecting the credibility 
of the statement made by the fugitives to Dr. Kirk, I do not 
feel that I should be right in withholding it from those who 
may flatter me by attaching some value to the few remarks 
I have to offer. Perhaps it may be best to state the im- 
pression on my own mind at once, and then to cite such 
incidents as have influenced me in forming- it. 
I should be loth to abandon all hope of any African 
traveller until his death were certified by evidence that left 
no room for doubt ; and in this I agree with Sir Roderick 
Murchison, who, in his letter read by Sir Henry Rawlinson 
at the late meeting of the Geographical Society, refers to the 
many travellers who have returned safely after having 
been reported dead — in many cases by deserters from their 
service, who, to account for their return, would not hesitate 
to concoct a plausible fiction. 
At the same time, I must confess my fear that the melan- 
choly intelligence is true outweighs my hope that it is false ; 
and this because, from my personal knowledge of Dr. Kirk, I 
cannot think that, with the opportunity of cross-examining 
nine men who all protest they helped to inter the body, he 
would have failed, between the 5th and 26th of December 
last, to. have broken down the evidence had it been un- 
truthful. Still, I know how cleverly and circumstantially 
the natives can get up the history of such a scene ; and, until 
Dr. Kirk’s letters containing the details of the narrative 
arrive, or further confirmation be obtained from him, I 
would not quite despair of the life of the great explorer. 
There is hardly a traveller that I have known in Africa 
whose death has not at some time or other been reported. 
Perhaps his native servants, terrified at his audacity in 
pushing onward toward some tribe renowned for prowess 
and ferocity, actually believe that he is hastening to his 
death, and that it would be madness to involve themselves 
in his fate. Their own fears gradually convert themselves 
into a self-deceptive certainty, confirmed perhaps by some 
rumour that may overtake them as they return. Or, if not 
so confirmed, their tale, truthful enough perhaps up to the 
time they left, needs only the addition of a few incidents, 
easily suggested to the native mind, to involve in grief the 
friends of the traveller, who may be safely pursuing his 
journey. Sometimes a more, clever or less timid servant 
will profess to be the bearer of important letters which ho 
will show to none but the person they are for, and thus is 
assisted on his way by natives and by colonists until the 
imposture is discovered. Many cases of this kind have 
happened within my own knowledge or that of my friends. 
My own life has been made the subject of a bet, and the 
first person who met me on my return greeted me not less 
heartily because my safety proved him the winner of the 
wager. The safety of Mr. Chapman and myself was at one 
time almost despaired of ; and in the Ccvpe Advertiser of 
December 17th, 1863, it was stated, on the authority of a 
letter from the governor of Senna, that Dr. Livingstone, 
who had started for Lake Nyassa in August with a party of 
only five Makololo, had been murdered. Another report 
was that he had been dangerously wounded in a fray ; but 
the editor very sensibly appended a remark that Dr. Mellor, 
who arrived in safety with the letters, had also on a previous 
occasion been reported dead. 
These instances will be enough to show that the reported 
fate of Dr. Livingstone is still open to doubt ; but on the 
other hand I cannot see sufficient inconsistency in the short 
abstract of the narrative already published, to warrant an 
imputation of untruthfulness. Dr. Livingstone had pre- 
viously been deserted by, or had dismissed, the servants who 
accompanied him from India. The buffaloes brought from 
the same country in hope that they would withstand the 
attacks of that deadly cattle pest the Tsetse fly, had died. 
He was still accompanied by the Johanna men, and had most 
probably also hired native porters to carry his necessary 
stores. Little or no regularity of march would be attempted. 
Rough and narrow foot-paths would wind through forest or 
low bush. The Doctor, it is said, with half his party, was 
in advance when the attack took place. Probably those who 
were behind would hear the noise of the affray even before 
they came in sight of it. Only one man professes to have 
seen the fatal blow, and he might easily escape the observa- 
tion of the parties intent only on the conflict in which they 
were engaged. That they returned at night is by no means 
impossible ; and, being Mahometans, they would be more 
likely than native Africans to think of burying their leader. 
Perhaps the murderers left little that could be brought away 
